Shock absorbers for billets



Feb. 18, 1958 c. E. MCCOY 2,823,812

SHOCK ABSORBERS FOR BILLETS I Filed July 16, 1954 Q 32 INVENTORS:

' C. E. MCCOY BY m ATTORNEY United States Patent SHOCK ABSORBERS FORBILLETS Clarence E. McCoy, Clarendon Hills, Ill., assignor to WesternElectric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application July 16, 1954, Serial No. 443,757

6 Claims. (Cl. 214-18) This invention relates to shock absorbers forbillets, and more particularly to shock absorbers for billet rollingmills for absorbing energy required to stop billets.

In rolling mills and furnaces for heating billets preparatory toconveying the billets to the mills, shock absorbers have been providedfor stopping the billets as they are slid out of the furnace onto aconveyor to lessen the impact of the billets on the apparatus. Shockabsorbers which have been sufiiciently strong to suitably avoid shock tothe apparatus have also been sufliciently strong to occasionally pushbillets stopped thereby back off the conveyor which is to convey thebillets away to the mill and slows the operation of the mill andrequires operators attention.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved shockabsorbers for billets.

Another object of the invention is to provide shock absorbers forstopping billets in rolling mills and for absorbing the energy utilizedin stopping the billets.

A further object of the invention is to provide shock absorbers whichare sufficiently strong as to prevent shock to associated apparatus andto effectively stop billets thrown thereagainst while absorbing theenergy of the impact of the billet without throwing the billet therefromin recoil.

A shock absorber illustrating certain features of the invention mayinclude a slidably mounted stop positioned at a conveyor adjacent to theoutlet of a furnace for heating billets against which the billets strikeas they slide out of the furnace. Resilient means composed of amemory-type plastic are provided to permit the stop to be moved by abillet crashing thereagainst, the material being sufiiciently strong toreturn the stop to its initial position sufliciently slowly that thebillet is not thrown off the conveyor.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of a shock absorber forming a specificembodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings,in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of a shock absorberforming one embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein afurnace for heating billets 11 to a rolling temperature, and fordischarging the billets one at a time down a chute 12 onto a rollerconveyor 13 conveying the billet from the furnace. The chute 12 issufliciently sloping that each billet travels completely onto theconveyor 13, and this causes the billets 11 to attain considerable speedin sliding down. To stop each billet without shock to the furnace, thereis provided a channel stop 16 carried on frames 17 hung by slidablebearings on ways 18 having stops 19 at the ends thereof. The frames 17are fixed rigidly to rods 21 mounted slidably in bores 22 in fixedcolumns 23, and nuts 24 adjustably 2,823,812 Patented Feb. 18, 1958threaded on the rods 21 hold bushings 25 on the rods 21 between the nuts24 and washers 26 and bottom flanges 27 of heat shields 28.

Rods 31 having hooks 32 thereon hooking over the channel stop 16 aremounted loosely in bearings 35 carried by columns 36, and nuts 37threaded on the ends of the rods 31 secure bushings 38 between thebearings 35 and washers 39. The bushings 25 and 38 are composed of abutyl rubber compound which will dissipate energy on impact withoutexerting a high resilient force. An example of such a compound containsgrade 1 butyl rubber 62.50%, stearic acid 0.66%, petrolatum 0.66%, zincoxide 3.50%, Micromex 20.80%, Pelletex 9.58%, sulfur 1.30%, Captax 0.34%and Methyle: Tuads 0.66%.

As each billet 11 slides down the chute 12 onto the conveyor 13, itstrikes the stop 16 hard and moves the channel, the rods 21 and 31 andthe frame 17 toward the right, as viewed in Fig. l, compressing thebushings 25 and 38 as the rods 21 and 31 are so moved. The bushings 25and 38 are suihciently elastic as to resist the movement of the rods 21and 31 with sufficient force as to prevent the frame 17 from strikingthe stop 19 hard, and the butyl rubber composition of the bushings 25and 38 is sufliciently weak that they do not exert sufficient force topull the channel 16 back toward the left with such force as to throw thebillet off the conveyor 13.

The above-described shock absorber prevents battering of the furnace andconveyor, and does: not throw the billets back oif the conveyor 13 as itreturns the channel relatively slowly to its initial position.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. in a rolling mill including a furnace having an inclined chute and aroll conveyor extending transversely of the inclined chute for conveyingbillets from the furnace supplied thereto by the chute, the improvementwhich comprises a bumper plate, a slide extending transversely of theconveyor and supporting the bumper plate in a position parallel to theconveyor, a slidably mounted rod secured rigidly to the slide, a secondslidably mounted rod secured to the bumper plate, a plurality of butylrubber bushings mounted on the rods, and means for restraining movementof the bushings with the bumper plate as a billet strikes the bumperplate and moves the rods, said bushings being insufficiently resilientto return the bumper plate rapidly to its normal position while thebillet is thereagainst.

2. In a rolling mill including a furnace having an inclined chute and aroll conveyor extending transversely of the inclined chute for conveyingbillets from the furnace supplied thereto by the chute, the improvementwhich comprises a bumper plate, a slide: extending transversely of theconveyor and supporting the bumper plate in a position generallyparallel to the conveyor, a plurality of slidably mounted rods securedto the slide, a plurality of butyl rubber bushings mounted on the rods,and means for restraining movement of the bushings with the bumper plateas a billet strikes the bumper plate.

3. in a rolling mill including a furnace having an inclined chute and aroll conveyor extending transversely of the inclined chute for conveyingbillets from the furnace supplied thereto by the chute, the improvementwhich comprises a bumper plate, a slide extending transversely of theconveyor and supporting the bumper plate in a position parallel to theconveyor, a plurality of pull rods secured to the slide, means mountingthe rods slidably. on the furnace, a plurality of butyl rubber bushingsmounted on the rods, and means for restraining movement of the bushingswith the bumper plate as a billet strikes the bumper plate and pulls therods, said bushings being insufficiently resilient to return the bumperplate rapidly to its normal position while the billet is thereagainst.

4. In an apparatus including a furnace, a conveyor extending away fromthe furnace and a chute extending from the interior of the furnacedownwardly to the conveyor and transversely of the conveyor fordelivering billets from the furnace to the conveyor, the improvementcomprising a guideway extending across the conveyor, a slide mounted onthe guideway, a bumper plate secured rigidly to the slide and dependingsubstantially to the conveyor, a plurality of rods extending parallel tothe slide, a plurality of butyl rubber bushings mounted on the rods,fixed means for restraining movement of the bushings with the rods whenthe stop plate is struck by a billet coming from the chute onto theconveyor, 21 plurality of 'rods'having hooks on the ends thereofengaging the bottom of the stop plate at spaced points therealong, aplurality of butyl rubber bushings mounted on the hooked rods, and fixedstop means preventing travel of the last-mentioned butyl rubber bushingswith the hooked rods when the stop plate is moved by a billet strikingit.

5. In an apparatus including a furnace, a conveyor extending away fromthe furnace and a chute extending from the interior of the furnacedownwardly to the conveyor transversely of the conveyor for deliveringbillets from the furnace to the conveyor, the improvement comprisingapair of ways above the conveyor and extending across the conveyor, aslide mounted on the ways, a bumper plate secured rigidly to the slideand depending substantially to the conveyor, a plurality of rodsextending parallel to the slide and secured thereto, a plurality ofbutyl rubber bushings mounted on the rods, fixed means for restrainingmovement of the bushings with the rods when the stop plate is struck bya billet coming from the chute onto the conveyor, a plurality of rodshaving hooks on the ends thereof engaging the bottom of the stop plateat spaced points therealong, a plurality of butyl rubber bushingsmounted on the hooked rods, and fixed stop means preventing travel ofthe last-mentioned butyl rubber bushings with the hooked rods when thestop plate is moved by a plate striking it.

6. A shock absorber for stopping an object moving along a predeterminedpath comprising a frame, a plurality of rods slidably mounted in theframe to extend from both sides thereof, a plate mounted on the ends ofthe rods extending in a first direction beyond the frame and positionedin the path of movement of the object, a plurality of butyl rubberbushings mounted on those portions of the rods extending in the oppositedirection from the frame, and retaining means mounted on the ends of therods extending in said opposite direction for holding the bushings onsaid rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,515,675 Tree July 18, 1950

